04 November 2014

By Khalid Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem

The seemingly totally unjustified recent killing of several Palestinian children in Jerusalem by the Israeli occupation force has already infuriated the Palestinian community in a peculiarly ominous manner.

According to reliable sources in Jerusalem, the age of the four Jerusalem boys murdered by Israeli troops and messianic Jewish settlers in the span of the past few weeks didn't exceed 14 years. The killings didn't occur by mistake and the lives of the murderers, whether settlers or crack soldiers, were not put at risk.

In other words, the Zionist killers murdered the four kids in cold blood, irrespective of Israeli disinformation.

But what now seems to be an evolving uprising in Jerusalem has more to do with the killing of a few more Palestinians by the Israeli killing machine. Since the beginning of 2014, Israel killed more than 2200 Palestinians, injured around 10,000, and partially or completely destroyed more than 50,000 homes, especially in the Gaza Strip. These figures caricature a genocidal onslaught by Israel against a thoroughly tormented people seeking survival in the face of relentlessly nefarious Israeli Nazism.

Indeed, Israel's no-holds-barred approach to the Palestinian people has convinced most Palestinians that Israel is effectively seeking their physical liquidation as a people. Israel is ruled by an extreme right-wing government which has much in common with Germany's Third Reich. The fact that numerous Jewish-influenced and Jewish-controlled media in Europe and North America say otherwise, doesn't alter the basic facts.

But there is a key difference between the two regimes - Israel and Nazi Germany. In Israel's case, messianic Jewish groups are having an immense influence on the government of Binyamin Netanyahu. These people hold a decidedly criminal and infinitely racist ideology that views the rest of mankind as quasi animals who should either be destroyed or effectively accept enslavement by the "master-Jewish race."

According to the nefarious ideology of these religious Zionists, the Palestinian people are descendants of an ancient people called the Amalek or Amalekites, who, according to the Bible, must be physically exterminated.

Hence, the ongoing Israeli policy of gradual extermination against the Palestinians.

Gradual seizure of Aqsa Mosque

Israel has always coveted the seizure of the al-Masjidul Aqsa of Jerusalem, considered the third holiest Islamic shrine.

In recent months, however, Israel dramatically escalated its provocations at the Noble Sanctuary, known in Arabic as Haram al-Sharif.

These provocations included allowing fanatical Jews to hold Talmudic rituals, barring Muslims below the age of 50 from accessing the holy place and taking control over the gates of the holy place.

Now, the Israeli parliament or Knesset is slated to discuss partitioning the exclusively holy Islamic site between Muslims and Jews.

The vast bulk of Muslims in occupied Palestine and abroad are now convinced that a possible Jewish takeover of the Aqsa Mosque is only a matter of time and that Israel is awaiting the opportune time to carry out its long-standing designs. Muslims view this prospect as nothing short of a declaration of war on Islam itself.

This is the view of Ikrema Sabri, the former Mufti of Jerusalem and Imam of the Aqsa Mosque.

"I say so because the very existence of Muslims in this land is inextricably entwined with the al-Aqsa Mosque. Our existence in Palestine would be meaningless without the Aqsa Mosque. Hence, a Jewish takeover of this paramount Muslim holy place, which is an integral part of our faith as Muslims, would be an earth-shaking event by any standard."

A Jewish takeover of the Aqsa Mosque would also obliterate the so-called peace process and seriously weaken the Palestinian Authority (PA). Indeed, the PA would be in no position to suppress the overwhelming indignation amongst Palestinians, triggered by an Israeli folly of this magnitude.

Relations between Israel on the one hand and both Egypt and Jordan on the other hand, would also suffer significantly.

More to the point, the current alliance between the U.S. and certain Arab regimes, e.g. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, against ISIS would come under immense pressure as a brazen Israeli provocation at the Aqsa Mosque would seriously embarrass America's Arab allies and redraw Arab sympathies toward the extremists.

In short, if Israel is to have its way in Jerusalem, the entire Middle East will be on fire. Even the internecine Sunni-Shiite confrontation would take a backseat as both Sunnis and Shiite forces would strive to display their indignation at the United States and Israel.

Finally, an Israeli takeover of the Aqsa Mosque would also likely set off a campaign of violence in many parts of the world. In short, another serious escalation at the Haram al-Sharif of Jerusalem wouldn't be just another event in the Middle East. It would most likely be a game-changer in many respects.


Khalid Amayreh is a veteran Palestinian journalist and political commentator living in al-Khalil in Occupied Palestine. 

©  EsinIslam.Com

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